Research in Prosthetics-Orthotics
As a student in the UT Southwestern Master of Prosthetics-Orthotics Program, you’ll participate in active, faculty-guided research projects in an interdisciplinary environment. Our research program is headed by Metin Yavuz, D.Eng., Director of Research for the Prosthetics-Orthotics Program. You can help with ongoing research by selecting an area of interest from topics offered by faculty. We encourage you to be creative and seek innovative solutions to clinical problems.
Range of Research Interests
Our faculty have a wide range of research interests which include but are not limited to:
- Lower-limb prosthetic management/outcome measures
- Cranial remolding orthoses for deformational head shapes
- Lower extremity orthotic management for neurological disorders
- Diabetic foot biomechanics
- Prevention of pressure ulcers in permanently seated individuals
- Design and development of medical devices to prevent diabetic foot ulcers
- Design of cooling prosthetic sockets
- Developing predictive models based on artificial intelligence and machine learning methods
- Biomechanical and functional evaluation of patients with hip pathology
- Idiopathic scoliosis and lower limb deficiency
- Foot and ankle biomechanics
- Assessment and treatment of movement disorders and disability due to stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, and limb loss using custom computer-controlled motorized devices
Equipment in the Prosthetic-Orthotic Research Lab
- FootSteps Plantar Shear quantification system (we are one of only a few labs in the world with this)
- A custom and novel Motorized Orthotic and Prosthetic Stiffness Device with servo motor and torque sensor
- TekScan Matscan seating pressure quantification system
- Novel-Pedar in-shoe dynamic pressure mapping system
- Bertec Force Plate
- Flir-IR Thermal Camera
- Kent Hyperspectral Camera for blood perfusion assessment
- Bio-Thesiometer for assessing vibration perception threshold in diabetic patients
- Delsys surface EMG system
- 3D Guidance trakSTAR electromagnetic motion sensor system with four 8-mm sensors
- Sonosite M-turbo portable ultrasound device
- OptiTrack 3D optical motion analysis system by Natural Point
- Nordic X7i incline trainer treadmill
Our Faculty’s Research
David G. Wilson, M.P.O., CPO, LPO, FAAOP
David’s research interests include optimized AFO stiffness and design on gait, lower extremity orthotic management, and prepreg carbon composite AFOs. As a clinician researcher, he focuses on current clinical problems to help patients live their most fulfilling lives. David has been invited to talk at the National level on a multitude of Orthotic and Prosthetic topics. He is the Co-PI on a study investigating material properties of prosthetic feet. He created and developed UTSW’s pre-preg composite orthotic lab. The lab also includes a novel motorized orthotic and prosthetic testing device, along with a custom FEA model for composite orthoses. David is also the PI for a large research project entitled, Prospective Evaluation of Functional Performance in Patients with Lower Limb Orthoses. This project looks to enroll 500 lower extremity orthotic users and create a database of their functional performance, with the goal of determining differences in functional performance between different orthosis designs.
Leslie Gray, M.Ed., CPO, LPO, FAAOP
Leslie Gray’s research interests are driven by her daily experiences in the clinic and classroom. She enjoys participating on multidisciplinary research teams as a clinical collaborator and is published in several Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) journals, the Journal of Prosthetics & Orthotics, and by the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists. Leslie has a wide scope of research interests, but her primary focus is lower extremity prosthetics and gait. She is PI for a large prospective study comparing clinical outcomes and preference between fiberglass and carbon fiber prosthetic feet for lower limb prosthetic users and hopes to provide prosthetists and patients guidelines to aid in prosthetic foot selection.
Metin Yavuz, DEng
Dr. Yavuz is an international leader on diabetic foot research and is a frequent speaker at national and international meetings on wound research. Dr. Yavuz’s groundbreaking research on the etiology of diabetic foot ulcers was awarded previously by the Cleveland Clinic, American Society of Biomechanics and American Diabetes Association. Dr. Yavuz has also been continuously funded by the NIH since 2010. As a Biomedical Engineer, Dr. Yavuz and his team design, develop and test novel medical devices in order to prevent diabetic foot ulcers and pressure ulcers. A couple of these efforts have been highlighted by local media and prosthetics and orthotics journals.
Dr. Yavuz’s ongoing research projects include:
- Clinical testing of cooling insoles (supported by the NIH)
- Biomechanical testing of prefabricated total contact cast kits (supported by the industry)
- Development and biomechanical testing of pressure alternating insoles (supported by the NIH)
- Testing of cooling prosthetic sockets
Tiffany Graham, MSPO, CPO, LPO, FAAOP
The primary focus of Tiffany Graham’s research surrounds the efficacy of Cranial Remolding Orthoses. Her research has been funded by the NIH’s Center for Translational Medicine and the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association. Her work has been published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, Journal of Craniofacial Surgery, Journal of Pediatric Care, and the website for the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists. She has had numerous research presentations, including those for the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists, the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association, the International African-American Prosthetic & Orthotic Coalition, Orthomerica’s International STAR Summit, and the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics.
